"I went to three Best Buys, and two Future Shops. Sold out everywhere...Am I disappointed? Of course, I was really looking forward to 'trading-up' my iPad 4 for the Surface Pro," said a person identified as ChrisJamesKnapp.

Others were just as harsh. "I really wanted the Surface Pro 128. I went to 4 stores...but like most others I was completely let down by the lack of inventory. It reeks of incompetence at best or a poor marketing ploy at worst," said ARigs.

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They have a point. The 128GB Surface Pro sold out immediately online and in short order at most Microsoft stores after it went on sale Saturday.

"We're working with our retail partners who are currently out of stock of the 128GB Surface Pro to replenish supplies as quickly as possible," wrote Panos Panay, who heads Surface the Surface team at Microsoft.

Microsoft's tablet is one of the few, if not the only, PC product in the last few years to spawn lines outside of stores. Like the October Surface RT rollout, there was a line yesterday at the Microsoft Store in the Century City area of Los Angeles.

But the product sold out much faster this time, leading to questions about Microsoft's supply strategy.

For example, prospective buyers who arrived at the Century City store were told soon after the store opened that stock was sold out of both the 64GB and 128GB models.

The Pro is priced at $899 for the 64GB model and $999 for the 128GB version. More about the specs and pricing here.

On Saturday, there was a small line outside the Century City Microsoft Store near Beverly Hills. The Surface Pro sold out immediately at the store.
Brooke Crothers

About the author

Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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